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Book of the Shade Mountains
This is a transcript of the "Book of the Shade Mountains," written by Jullafield Myzel. =The Shade Mountains= The great barrier known as the Shade Mountains is the border between north and south. So wide is the range, that while the north end knows only cold and snow throughout the seasons, the south end that blends into the hillscape north of Tarloc has no snowfall in the summer. The heights of the mountains themselves are always covered in snow. The terrain is immensely harsh and difficult to navigate and travel through. If the wild beasts and monsters don’t fell the traveler, it will be the freezing cold, the thin air, the dangerous climbs or an avalanche. There are few places of note in this harsh region. Many caves and caverns run deep into the mountains, some even ending in the underworld called Neverlight. In the hills to the south, Tarloc owns a copper mine. Near there lies also an old abandoned asylum, which was once used to hold prisoners with arcane powers. At present, the inhabitants of the mountains include animals, ogres, goblins and kobolds. A notorious bandit clan has a hideout somewhere in the south end, but it is unclear where exactly. There are also stories of giants wandering the high ranges. =The Deceased Dragon= During my search for existing literature about the region I came across an interesting passage about the remains of a dragon hidden in a cave in the mountains. The writer of the passage admitted that he had no real information about the dragon’s history, not even a name or an indication of the age of the remains. After having done some research myself, I came to the conclusion that no stories about a dragon in the Shade Mountains seem to have made it into the folklore of the peoples of Frostkeep or Tarloc. This may be an indication that this dragon was already dead when humans began populating the region, or that any stories about it have simply been lost in time. Very unfortunate, because this means we will probably never know this dragon’s name or nature. My next step was to contact the author of the aforementioned passage, and retrace his sources. I thereby found a seasoned adventurer who indeed claimed to have seen the carcass, and he offered to take me there (after some silver persuasion). The trek to this cave was not easy, but we reached it without any injuries. The cave itself, however, was inhabited by kobolds and even some ogres who appeared to worship the dragon skeleton, as if it was a relic of a God. Together, we managed to kill or rout the creatures, and I saw the remains with my own eyes. The dragon’s hoard, if there ever was one, was long gone. What meager spoils remained in the cave were obviously collected by the kobolds. =The Red Star= A recent even has certainly left it’s mark on the mountains. I am speaking of the infamous Red Star, a cosmic anomaly that crossed our sky during the past year. By many it was seen as an ill omen, and surely this year has been one of the most severe and chaotic in the history of the Shores. It also left a physical mark on the world. Part of it came raining down all over, and one of the larger pieces formed a crater in the northeast of the mountains. It left a residue in the form of an alien red crystal, a substance that has played a part in the recent war between Frostkeep and Tarloc. However, that is a story best told elsewhere. Category:Lore Category:Books